Tellwyrn, Arachne
Arachne Tellwyrn is the founder, director, and professor of History at Unseen University. She is over 3,000 years old and has achieved a variety of remarkable feats over the course of those three millennia. Tellwyrn is possibly the greatest archmage in the world. Because of her skill and her involvement in taking down Emperors and gods alike, she is considered a Class Zero Personified Event in the eyes of the Tiraan Empire. It is a recurring motif throughout TGAB that people run from her once they realize who she is. Another running motif is that she is widely regarded by other powerful entities as brash, ham-fisted, and terribly obnoxious. Early Life and Family (In progress) Of Tellwyrn's earliest years, not much is known. She first publicly appeared toward the end of the Third Hellwar. It was revealed by Robin, an elf living near Sarasio, that Tellwyrn had lost her husband about a century before TGAB took place. Although Gabriel finds this a poor excuse for her somewhat explosive behavior, Robin explains the following: “To an elf, however, a heartbreak dominates the mind for longer than the average human lives. I assure you, to an elf, the loss of a mate a century ago is a very raw wound indeed. So have a little patience with Arachne. She lives with a great deal of pain, and yet devotes her energies to educating people who will likely be dead before she herself is fully healed.” - Book 4, Ch. 2 Additionally, she has alluded to having five children, all by human fathers. None were raised by her. Four are confirmed to be deceased, but due to their human parentage, it is not unlikely that they died of natural causes. The status and identity of the fifth child is unknown. One of her children became the Alderasi line, the ruling Sultanas of Calderaas. She remained very fond the Alderasi, acting as a court wizard for them. She would later admit Alderasi children to her university as part of her affection for them, but acting in-character she never explained why and the Alderasi children at the University are unaware of why their lineage is tied to her. Quest to meet the Gods It is known that since her appearance during the Third Hell War, that Arachne sought out all of the gods. She asked for their help and when they, one and all, refused to help she regarded them as selfish. The Pantheon collectively has reacted with wild variations to Arachne, some getting along well with her, like Vidius, while others regard her disdainfully, like Avei. She is regarded by the Gods and people who have studied her legacy as a thorough scholar and is noted as always doing her research. She apparently spent 3000 years in her quest to meet all the Gods and talk with them. She spent full human lifetimes studying each individual god, to know who they were, how to get their attention, their capabilities, and their personalities. She apparently performs some particularly important function to the Gods which help keeps reality in order. This function, whatever it is, has the caused the Gods to intervene to protect her with some exasperation, remarking that she could serve her role just as well sealed into a pocket dimension. She met Salyrene late in her quest. She came to a suitable arrangement with Vemnesthis, who is a particularly reclusive and intemperate god. She is, in fact, his high priest and commands the Scions of Vemnesthis. However she has a dual existence and she does not remember all the things she learns or sees in the Sicon's bastion when she is in her regular form interacting with the mortal plane. Arachne has been described as a patch upon reality, not matching the rest of the mortal plane to those who have particular senses. This may be related to her reasons for seeking out the gods. Her serial audiences with the gods appears to be a central element of the story. Apparently, among other things, Arachne sought to have the Gods help her in relation to her claims that Scyllith has the means to rewrite reality. The Gods variously dismissed this claim, either finding unbelievable or simply finding themselves unable to help. Recently the activist members of the Pantheon have begun to reconsider their refusal to aid, or believe, Tellwyrn. Nemitoth, the librarian and God of Knowledge, noted that he neither disbelieved or believed her claims but that there was no proof, and could be no proof. Other gods dismissed the ideas based on the certainty that if Scyllith did have significant power, or means of escape, she would have done it already. When Scyllith did rewrite reality to erase Kuriwa's sister, Kuriwa was left with the memory of knowing she lost someone. There is circumstantial evidence that Tellwyrn (a patch on reality not matching the rest) may in fact be Kuriwa's lost sister. Kuriwa's sister wore Ariel, the talking sword, as part of her duties as one of the high elves of Questrceel. Arachne also has a strong affinity for the arcane magics, which Kuriwa's sister did, every more so than the High Elves generally do. Kuriwa's sister also had a playful, mischevious, and obnoxious personality which could easily have grown into the personality Arachne now displays. After the Quest After her quest was unsuccessful, and the Gods all refused to aid her, she went into the Deep Wild. She gave up hope and lacked a purpose in life. Seeking dangerous encounters aid her in suicide, not by her own hand, she was thought lost and dead for decades. The Deep Wild, despite being the incredibly dangerous home of Naiya, was not able to extinguish her and Tellwyrn could not do herself in. She emerged to squash a budding chaos cult with the help of Professor Yornhaldt. Afterwards, he successfully convinced her to undertake a quest to eliminate stupidity, by becoming an educator and founding a university. Arachne was present and a participant in the Enchanter Wars, plural. She has had some significant, but as yet undescribed, involvement with the debacle at Athan'Kar. She also helped picked up the pieces of the mess. While she has strongly avoided any public credit, she was critical to installing Emperor Sharidan's grandfather, Sarsamon, on the throne as the Tiraasian Emperor. In helping to secure the Tiraasian empire, she was part of a cabal who instigated the invasion of peaceful Tiraasian heartlands by the Stalweiss warlord Henshaad, known by the moniker Horsebutt the Enemy. Horsebutt's campaign though ferocious was a carefully stage-managed affair which enabled Sharidan's grandfather to stave off the other rival to the throne of Tiraas and secure the empire's capital in Tirass instead of Onkawa. At some point during the rivalry and the campaign of Horsebutt, the Emperor ordered the abduction of Arachne, resulting in the dissolution of the Imperial Department of Mysteries. Arachne regards the kidnapping jocularly, having survived it with no apparent scars, and occasionally reminisces that the world has become too proper for such things now. Role in the Elder War (In progress) Notable Feats (In progress; parts of this section may be moved if they fit better under other categories). Tellwyrn worked with Elilial in overthrowing Scyllith, dealing Scyllith her greatest defeat. This occured as a separate incident after Elilial overthrew Scyllith, and the circumstances of that fight are still unknown. However, both Elilial and Kaisa have praised Arache's scheme that allowed this to occur, with Elilial calling it inspiring. Notwithstanding this Scyllith regards Tellwyrn as "my Arachne" and is proud that Tellwyrn's superpower of being obnoxious is slowly changing the world. Ellial also regards Tellwyrn favorably, despite seeing her as a nuisance in the implementation of her anti-Pantheon schemes. Tellwyrn is the High Priestess of Vemnethsis and commands the Scions. She also has an unparalleled competence and skill with time-based magic. She also appears to have killed Sorash, one of the Elder Gods. Though referenced obliquely, it appears that she met Sorash as part of her quest to meet all the gods. Sorash, the god of violence, appears to have been a cruel and capricious misogynist worse than Shaath is commonly held to be. Apparently Sorash attempt to actually collar Tellwyrn and treat her as a degraded love slave. Other gods commented that he gave her ample reason to exterminate him and that the Pantheon was not stirred because he had earned his fate. In addition, Tellwyrn was part of a plot to bolster the Silver Throne, moving Sarsamon Tirasan from a puppet position into a true Emperor. This was done by mobilizing the Stalweiss warlord, Horsebutt the Enemy. In a twist on conventional mythology, Arachne personally controls a pocket dimension named Suffering. She is capable of sending people there on a whim. Suffering is a tropical climate with abundant fruit and pleasant natives who regard Arachne, herself, as something of a relatable physical god. Occupants of Suffering may leave whenever they choose, by taking the boat. As part of leaving Suffering, their memories are impaired and thus the secret of Suffering remains protected. The boat is run by Karen the Ferryman, a takeoff of Greek mythology's Chiron the Ferryman across the River Styx to Hades' underworld. The boat runs on a 6 month schedule. From the appearance of the mortal plane, Arachne may at whim "teach someone the meaning of Suffering" at which point the person disappears beyond all locating spells and scrying, only to appear 6 months later somewhat traumatized, remembering nothing except the name Suffering and Karen the Ferryman. If they reappear at all, some choosing to remain in the worry-free tropical climate and thus totally disappearing off the face of the earth. Tellwyrn is the Keeper of several of the chaos tainted objects. Unlike almost any one else who has come into possession of the so-called Mad Hallows, Tellwyrn keeps them safely in a pocket dimension untouched and away from the mortal plane. Tellwyrn, in combat situations or facing danger, can manifest a pair of ornate and expensive swords out of thin air. She can also manifest armor in the same manner. She apparently caries a great deal of equipment and items from her many travels with her and can produce them in an instant. Tellwyrn is not very good with the fae school of magic, although comparably her considerable skill level in the other schools may mean that she is still a superior fae caster. She has some abilities with the fae school, at one point summoning a Vodka elemental to haunt the Tiraas Imperial palace as part of some obscure joke or bet. Tellwyrn has extensively studied the infernal arts and is very skilled with them, although she apparently goes to great lengths to conceal this fact. She also works hard to avoid disclosing her ability to call on divine magic. Zanzayed the Blue, a dragon, is a long-running rival of hers. He was apparently instrumental in convincing her that suicide or despair after the loss of one of her husbands was not useful or in character. She has publicly humiliated him and fought on several occasions throughout history, normally emerging as the victor in the long-run. Zanzayed has apparently grown enamoured with her. At some point a bet was made, and Zayzayed gave her a magic flute to call upon him for 10 favors. The bet holds that Arachne must mate with Zayzayed after the tenth favor, to produce him an heir. As of the 13th book, Arachne has used 7 of the 10 favors. Personality and Beliefs Tellwyrn is extremely confident in her abilities, which leads her to sometimes come off as arrogant or even cocky. Coupled with her stubbornness and blunt manner of speaking, she can be a difficult person to interact with. However, although people fear her for her supposed "trigger-happy" nature, she does not appear to take pleasure from harming others and has shown mercy even to those who she is hunting down. Tellwyrn typically does not bend to authority, seeming to view herself as someone who has the ability to punish nations and powerful individuals alike. However, she is aware of her own limitations and has shown a willingness to cooperate in order to keep up with the rest of the world. As an educator, Tellwyrn is sometimes rather harsh, which is reflected in classroom methods as well as in her assignments and field trips. However, she is fiercely protective of all the students at Unseen University and makes that a priority, regardless of the consequences. Tellwyrn also shows moments of kindness and sincere sympathy, such as when she replaced Gabriel's coat after it burned, or when she helped Trissiny process after finding out the identity of her mother. Speculation Arachne is often referred to by those with long life or great power, even by some gods, by the definitive article ("the Arachne"). Kuriwa recognized the name Arachne when first introduced. She has speculated that that before the Pantheon took root the Drow had a spider goddess, and that the goddess's high priest is unaccounted for. Later, Arachne herself confirms that she has some connection to Araneid, an Elder Goddess in a current state of temporal undeath represented in a golden egg, though she has stated that she has already washed her hands of anything to do with Araneid. Other sources show that Araneid is seeking a way to return to life through manipulating timelines, using time magic which Arachne is uniquely gifted with. Arachne apparently spent a great deal of time trying to unravel the fate of Araneid, before the Third Hell War. This took her into conflict with Scyllith twice, although Scyllith claims some connection with her. This entanglement also involved working with Ellial. She gave up the mess as a lost cause mired in uncertainty just before her appearance on the surface in time to join the last battle of the Third Hell War, before starting on her quest to meet with all the gods with a story so improbable they didn't believe her and wouldn't help her. = Category:Characters Category:Elves Category:Unseen University Category:Leaders